More than half of patients with colorectal cancer also experience distant metastasis of the liver, the treatment for which is hepatic resection. Because of late detection associated with the condition, only about one-third of patients with CRLMs are eligible for the risky procedure, which has only a 25-58 percent survival rate.

With advancements in chemotherapy and improved surgical capabilities, some patients who were not previously eligible for the procedure may have hope, as long as the extent of the disease can be imaged accurately, said Dong Ho Lee, MD, of Seoul National University Hospital, South Korea, and his co-authors.